Roddin' @ Random - Big Hemi Adventure

I heard stories about a guy in Iowa who had squirreled away a few rare Mopars, so I hopped in my car and drove out there seven hours straight on a Friday evening. I tracked down the house, showed the owner the Sept. ’12 HOT ROD with my story about a ’69 Daytona barn find, and the guy was excited to show me what he had. He said, “I have one of the cars that makes the Daytona sitting out back.” I thought he meant a ’69 Charger. I was partially right.

First he showed me a ’66 Dodge Coronet belonging to his sons, then a ’66 Charger, and a ’70 Dodge Coronet R/T sitting off the driveway in the weeds. In the north workshop was a ’67 Plymouth GTX—a Hemi/four-speed car, one of 721 made. The original engine and transmission were long gone, but the car was a solid project. There was also a ’64 Plymouth Sport Fury, a ’67 Satellite, a 440-powered ’67 GTX, and some early ’50s Mopars, some with first-generation Hemis still in them. We moved on through his collection of early ’60s B-bodies, including a ’64 Plymouth Max Wedge car. We saw about 10 early Hemis he had stored on an open trailer, and an entire Chrysler irrigation-pump assembly. Then we moved on to a storage trailer full of rare parts including many different Mopar dual-four-barrel intakes. He had a bit of it all—some early small-block and big-block wedge stuff, long rams, Hemi intakes, and even a bunch of blowers.

But then, the shocker. There, sinking into the mud, was a ’69 Charger 500 with a Hemi and a four-speed, one of just 27 built. He had at one point put a pole through the grille and radiator, killing the Hemi, and there was an incident with the passenger quarter-panel. I mentioned that companies reproduce almost everything needed to restore the car, including new second-gen Hemis. He said he didn’t have to worry about that.
That’s when he showed us a barn that had not been opened since 1994. He’d boarded it up after someone broke in and stole a bunch of stuff. As he cracked the door, it was like Indiana Jones finding the Ark of the Covenant. All you could see were Hemis—426 Hemis! A ’69 NASCAR Hemi on a stand, another with a big blower on it, and a pile of superchargers, heads, intakes, valve covers, and rare NASCAR magnesium pieces. On the floor was a complete engine that looked like it had been pulled out of a running car. It was mind-blowing. We walked over Hemi parts and 18-spline four-speeds just to get to more Hemi parts. The owner hadn’t been in there for nearly 20 years and was finding stuff he had forgotten about.

8/11

When asked why he had all this stuff, and why his nicest car was a ’90s Dodge Ram, he just said he didn’t drag race, didn’t do restorations, but loved trying to find rare Mopar stuff at flea markets. It’s the same reason I’m the Automotive Archeologist, because of the thrill of the hunt. You never know what you are going to find, and this stuff makes my heart race every time.

Got a tip for me? Send an email to AutoArcheology@Yahoo.com. I never reveal the owners’ names or the locations of the treasures I discover.